Jess and Cat / 24, 23 / Brother’s Wedding / Bismark, ND / September 2017
“My beautiful girlfriend and I got all dressed up for my little brother’s wedding this fall. It was the first time I ever wore a vest to an event, so I’d say it was a success.”
Sarah, Abbie, Kendra, Janae / Halloween / Brooklyn NY / 2016 and 2017
Leah and Lindsey / 33 / Surviving 2016, Celebrating NYE 2017 / Harlem, NY / December 31, 2016
“This was my girlfriend and my first New Year’s together. She’s 6 ft and I’m 5’2”, her Dad commented that all our photos look like I’m in her armpit, so we thought this was funny, plus we look fabulous which is the best way to deal with the current cultural climate. (Decorations inspired by Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Boy Problems” music video.)”
Anna, Heather, Josh, Yuse, EJ / Electric Haze / Worcester MA / October 2017
“For the past four years I’ve been running Airspray, a queer community group, and hosting fabulous monthly queer dance parties. This month’s theme was STAY GOLD and we had some fabulous outfits!”
Ashley and Liz / Friend’s Wedding / Denver, CO / 2017
“We went to the wedding of one of our friends and there was a photobooth at their reception (at a bar which, A+ venue selection), which we took full, drunken advantage of.”
Stephanie and Dwyn / 29, 27 / Our Birthday Week! / San Francisco, CA / October 26, 2017
“Our birthdays are three days apart and happen to fall during a fairly busy time of year for both of us. However, the nonprofit I (Dwyn) work at was having a small fundraiser at a yacht club so we got the chance to dress up a little and spend the evening celebrating together somewhere fancy. It was pretty much the most fun way to celebrate our birthdays.”
Maria and Kathryn / 25 / Friend’s Wedding / Bundoran, Ireland / 24 September, 2016
“These photos were taken at the wedding of one of my girlfriend’s closest friends. She was a bridesmaid and it was the first wedding we went to together. I love going to weddings and nothing makes Kathryn happier than dancing like an idiot (she is a much better dancer than me). I remember that I could barely stop smiling all night.”
Amanda and Abbie / 29, 27 / We Were Legally Married! / Canmore, Alberta, Canada / July 26, 2012
“The picture I have chosen to include for this collection is the moment our officiant pronounced Abbie and I wives. It was a moment of such pure joy, and our incredible photographer (Canada’s best, who basically did our wedding pro bono) was able to capture it so well. We live in the state of Washington, and at the time we were planning our wedding, it was not legal to marry in our state. It was very important to us that we married, not domesticated (that’s what we called Washington’s domestic partnership law). My family is from Montana, hers is from Pittsburgh, so it seemed fair that everyone be required to travel for our wedding, including us. The event was hosted in a bed and breakfast, where they provided everything we needed for two full days–an incredible rehearsal dinner with beer and wine, a wedding day brunch, picnic baskets for guests to take as they explored the beauty of Banff National Park, rounds and rounds of phenomenal tapas for the wedding dinner, along with a fully stocked open bar, and a goodbye brunch the following morning. Our wedding was a very small, intimate affair, and truly the most lovely day of my life. Because most of us stayed together in the b&b, everyone felt their attendance was important and appreciated (and it was!). Also, our family members who attended, some of whom did not understand why we chose Canada as our wedding location (or were even against gay marriage to begin with), gained a newfound appreciation and respect for our love, our relationship, and the value we placed in the ability to become legal spouses. My wife and I have been together now for nine years, and legally married for five of those. Cheers to many more years!”
Kathryn Niesche, Tigger!, Governor of Victoria Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Taylor Mac, Creatrix Tiara, Mama Alto / Morning Reception for Melbourne Festival / Government House, Victoria / October 17 2017
“For the last month or so I was part of the Melbourne Festival production of Taylor Mac’s 24 Decade History of Popular Music, a 24-hour high-glam super-queer Radical Faerie Realness Ritual performance art concert extravaganza exploring US history from 1776 to now via music that was popular and/or relevant for its time. (Though anything I could say about it would really be an understatement). I was a Dandy Minion, a “candystriper meets cabin attendant meets Rocky Horror Picture Show floor show cast member”: a bridge between the audience and the stage, providing support through fabulousity. It’s one of the most epic experiences of both my creative and personal life – getting to know all of these amazing talented people and being part of a unique, incredible, and transformative experience.
The artists performing at Melbourne Festival, including the cast and crew of 24 Decades, were invited to Government House for tea with the Governor of Victoria. It was really entertaining to see a colonial institution (the Governor is technically a representative of the Queen of England in Australia) filled up primarily with queers, gender-benders, and other rebels.
What I found especially entertaining was my mother’s reaction to the photo. I told her about our invite to the Governor’s house and how I wore her kebaya, and she got so excited she posted the photo to her Facebook profile – and the comments are filled with blessings and well-wishes from relatives and old family friends. Yet if any of them knew that everyone on the couch (save the Governor though who knows really) was very openly queer, with at least a couple being trans and/or non-binary, and that we were part of a production that relished in sexuality and taboo-breaking and copious amounts of nudity, they would all be scandalised. (Hell Tigger! is wearing a very lacy outfit with pretty much nothing underneath!!!) Respectability politics can count for something sometimes!”
Emily and Maddy / 24, 21 / Friends’ Wedding / Asheville, NC / October 7, 2016
“Emily’s best friend got married, and we traveled to Asheville to celebrate! Technically the wedding was in nearby Weaverville, which is beautiful and mountainous and home to a llama named Chocolate Chip who made it into some of the pictures. Best memory: this photo booth picture, which perfectly captures the trip/our friendship.”
